The Examined Life

May 6, 2010

The Limit of Anything is not a Natural Place

…together, the writing and the life, they make something of which I am unsure–but I am the student of that something, trying to be more sure. Continue reading

Books, Reading, The Examined Life, Thinkers, Writers, Writing

Hemingway, Montaigne, Sartre, Socrates, The Examined Life, the personal essay, Writing

April 29, 2010

Thursday Grace Notes

“Life lived as art” — I love that. Continue reading

Books, Death, Philosophy, The Examined Life, The infinity of ideas, Thinkers, Wisdom

Alberti, Confucius, Isocrates, Jesus, Modernity, Muhammad, The Golden Rule, Wittgenstein

April 26, 2010

Infinite Jest, Longfellow Books

This, this so-called culture in which we struggle to thrive, is a theme and subject of Infinite Jest. (But there are ever so many themes to IJ.) Culture has been sold off. Corporate America bought it and ate it for lunch, between two pieces of Wonderbread. It is an appetite that knows no satiation and… Continue reading

Literature, Reading, The Examined Life, Writers

David Foster Wallace, Goya, Infinite Jest, iPad, Kindle, Longfellow Books, Luddite, Portland

April 24, 2010

“A great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up.” ~Albert Schweitzer

There is an extended scene towards the end of 25th Hour, the 2002 Spike Lee movie that captures my imagination. The Ed Norton character is reporting to prison in upstate New York, being driven there by his father, played by Brian Cox. In the scene, his father says, “Just say the word, say the word… Continue reading

Family, Life, Philosophy, The Examined Life, Thinkers

Albert Schweitzer, Edward Norton, Eugene Smith, Existentialism, Montaigne, Sartre, Sisyphus, Spike Lee

April 21, 2010

“…a means of ignorning the spaces in between…”

Do you remember the Simon and Garfunkel tune, 59th St. Bridge Song–specifically the lyrics, Slow down you move too fast? Surely you do. A catchy tune. And the sentiment nice. We nod in agreement: Yes, we move too fast. Let’s slow down, smell the roses, or the coffee, whatever, savior the moment–nice little tag line… Continue reading

Philosophy, The Examined Life, The infinity of ideas, Thinkers, Travel, Writers

Examined Life, flying, Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, Seth Stevenson, Simon and Garfunkel, Simon Critchley, Waldon Pond

April 19, 2010

“Elliott, God is my Lord”

“It’s all about bringing everything together and seeing it whole, as a universe.” Continue reading

Curiosity, Photography, The Examined Life, The infinity of ideas

Photography, Portland

Recent Posts